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January 30, 2002

Here are some of the regular winter visitors in my backyard: chickadees, cardinals (which always come in groups of six or eight; I think it's a family), downy woodpeckers (a pair), white-breasted nuthatches (a pair), red-breasted nuthatches, sparrows which are really weaver finches, juncos, purple or house finches, mourning doves, mice, and yes, squirrels. Infrequent visitors include hairy woodpecker and sharp-shinned hawk.

My most exciting bird-event was Memorial Day Weekend 2001, when a family of screech owls moved into my purple ash tree for three nights. Two adults and two babies roosted quietly in the dense branches of the tree during the day, barely moving an inch for fear of being spotted by the many crows around here. But at dusk, they would hop comically out of the tree and leap on lower branches, the patio umbrella, the garage roof, the swingset, the fence, etc. The babies would eat June bugs on the ground while the adults flew short trips around the backyards looking for dinner. After that, I've been advocating for little mice and toads to live in my yard so we can lure the owls back again! We know they stayed in the neighborhood all summer because we could hear them in the evening.

Also, just a cautionary note about opossum. They can occasionally be rabid. If a wild animal ever approaches you, be careful! We had this happen once near the Starkweather Creek. A possum walked directly at our dog (leashed!) and we couldn't avoid it or shoo it away. Finally, my husband kicked the possum into the creek in self defense. It was very weird. My father-in-law says that rabid animals will sometimes do that stuff. ~ Cindy Cameron-Fix

January 29, 2002

Harv Nelson has sent us a link to his Mad City Bird Cam. Harv writes:

Since I can not monitor the action at my bird feeder all day long (I work nights), I appreciate if others (especially those who do not have their own backyard feeders) would take an occasional peek at what is going on and report any unusual stuff they see. 

Three cameras are available. The index/home page throws up three STILL snapshots from each camera (the view at the moment the user logs in). For full motion video, just click on the menus below each picture to select a full motion video that fits best on your screen. It may take a minute, or more,  for the first screen to load on a 56k phone link. Please be patient.

Due to the amount of data being processed, and the old "clunker" computers I use, the servers will take only five simultaneous users. If one user tries to access all three cameras at once, he looks like three different users to the servers. Please play fair! View only one camera at a time.

With all this warm weather, I've been seeing mostly squirrels, but the occasional Cardinal does stop by. The cameras are online from 6 AM 'til 6 PM daily. ~ Harv Nelson

Click this link to view the Mad City Bird Cam.

January 25, 2002

... thought I'd pass along a particularly thrilling sighting I and my two children observed this past Sunday. Flying over Miller Ave and then over frozen Lake Monona was a Bald Eagle! It was an adult with its white head and outspread wings clearly visible. I've seen them before over Sauk City, but never in Madison. ~ Paul Lobue

A couple of the fun and interesting nature sightings I've had in the past are an opossum (very much alive, wandering down the street toward the lake after dark) and a small (about 8" across) snapping turtle that showed up in our front yard one spring day. At first I could hardly believe it, but I could clearly see the triangular notches on the shell and tail, and as I moved closer it turned to me and gave a threatening hiss! As I watched it scoot across the street (undoubtedly also headed to the lake) some kids
approached and forced it to retreat backwards, hissing and snapping the whole time, under a parked car. At that point our resourceful neighbors brought out a broomstick and herded the turtle into a garbage can, which was used to quickly transport it to its destination. ~ Deana Hipke

January 23, 2002

I have no recent sightings, but did see a 3-4' Tiger Musky (a cross between a northern pike and musky) on Starkweather Creek last summer. I thought it was two huge carp at first, but then realized I was staring into the eyes of one big fish (with big teeth!). This was right where the creek forks on the shore of Garver woods. ~Lisa Grueneberg

January 22, 2002

My backyard is designated as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat through the National Wildlife Federation (it's a neat program) and we have regular bird watching here. ~ Cindy Cameron-Fix

[Click here to find out more about the NWF's Backyard Wildlife Habitat program. ~dch

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© 2002 Deana C. Hipke